Segmented cover system

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a segmented cover system utilizing a series of cover sections, which can be of any size and shape, and a series of curved or straight supporting bows to form a cover assembly which allows for the easy replacement of a cover section or a bow without disassembling the entire cover system. The present cover assembly preferably utilizes a series of standard cover sections which are detachably secured to the two adjacent supporting bows. Preferably, the supporting bows are curved and consist of a bow center section and two easily removable bow end sections. The unique design, construction and interaction of the cover sections, the bow center sections and the bow ends enable damaged cover sections and bows to easily be removed and replaced without disassembling or removing the cover system from its location. A drive assembly can be used to extend and retract the segmented cover system of the present invention.

This is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 07/414,193filed on Sept. 28, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,109.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a segmented cover system for covering alarge area and more particularly to a retractable segmented coveringsystem for covering the top of truck and trailer bodies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The need for a reliable covering system and particularly a retractablecovering system for truck and trailer bodies has long been recognizedwhere the cargo being carried is perishable, a hazardous material, orwhich could be dangerous to passing motorists such as stones, gravel,asphalt, shale, or any other material which can become a projectile.Moreover, many states are passing laws which mandate the use of coveringsystems on trucks and trailers. Retractable covering systems have theadvantage that they can be operated easily and safely from the ground byone person. They also can be extended and retracted in very little timethereby improving overall efficiency and reducing driver fatigue.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,801,171, 4,725,090 and 4,189,178 describe severaldifferent truck tarpaulin covering systems which allow a tarpaulin coverto be mechanically extended or retracted from the top portion of a trucktrailer. While these retractable cover systems can accomplish theirintended purpose once they are installed, they typically require asignificant amount of time and effort to install, especially since theyare not easily installed by one person. Thus, they are notinterchangeable.

Moreover, these systems have a serious drawback if the tarpaulin or itssupports become damaged, either during normal operation or duringcovering and uncovering of the trailer body. It is very difficult torepair or replace these systems if they become damaged and therefore theentire truck can be out of operation for a long period of time until thecover system is completely repaired or replaced. This is because, toreplace the cover or the supporting rods, the cables which enable thecover system to be retractable have to be disconnected from all of thesupporting bows and these in turn must be disconnected individually fromthe entire tarp. If a spare tarp is not immediately available, theentire tarp must be sent out for repair even if the damaged areacomprises only a small portion of the tarp. Additional delays can occurin repairing the tarp, itself. Even after the tarp is repaired, thewhole cover system must be reassembled and reinstalled on the trucktrailer, again requiring a significant amount of time and manual labor.

The entire removal and installation process is quite involved and verylabor intensive because these tarps can be quite big (typically 10-48ft. long) and on average are about 34 ft. long and 8-10 ft. wide. Inmost of these systems, a sleeve is required to be made in the tarp(typically about every 3 ft.) into which each one of the supporting rodsmust be inserted. This construction results in a very expensive tarp dueto the amount of detailed work involved in creating all these pockets.Moreover, it is very tedious and time consuming to insert all of thesupporting bows into the tarp pockets as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,178 orto connect the tarp to each of the supporting rods as in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,801,171 and 4,725,090. It is also difficult, due to its weight andbulk, to put the combined tarp and supporting rod assembly onto thetruck trailer. Thereafter, the cables by which the cover is extended orretracted must be individually connected to each supporting rod byfeeding it through an opening in the end thereof. As a result of thisexpensive and involved process, many trucks operate with damaged tarpsand supporting rods because it is easier and cheaper to use damagedequipment than to incur the time and expense necessary to fix it.However, using damaged tarps permits material to be blown from the trucktrailers and allows water damage to the cargo, thereby defeating thepurpose of the truck cover system and possibly being a violation of law.

Due to the frequency with which these tarpaulin covering systems becomedamaged it would be desirable to have a retractable cover system whereinonly the damaged portion could easily be removed and replaced withoutreplacing or disassembling the entire cover system. Similarly, such acover system would be desirable in certain application, even if it werenot retractable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the present invention provides a cover system comprising aplurality of cover sections with a plurality of parallel supporting bowsspaced therebetween to form a cover assembly wherein the cover sectionis detachably connected between successive supporting bows such that thecover section can be removed from the cover system independent of theother cover sections. The cover system of the present invention can beused in almost any industrial, commercial, residential or recreationalsetting wherein it is desired to have a cover for a large area. It alsocould be used for small areas, but it is particularly useful for largeareas. With the addition of a drive assembly and a frame, the coverassembly can be made retractable thereby expanding its possible uses toalmost any structure or container. For example, the present cover systemcould be used as an awning over a porch or patio, or as a cover for aswimming pool. Preferably, however, the present invention is used as acover system for large vehicles such as railroad cars and truck andtrailer bodies.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a retractable segmentedcover system comprising a drive assembly, a plurality of uniquelydesigned parallel supporting rods or bows and a plurality of coversections or tarp segments, each one connected between two successivesupporting bows to form a cover assembly. Depending on the size of thearea to be covered, the present invention uses a varying number of coversections, which can be of different shapes and sizes, and a varyingnumber of supporting bows. The cover sections extend at least to theedge of the frame and preferably beyond to fully cover the area. Oneadvantage of the present invention is that each bow can be of the samestandard design and shape and preferably, each cover section can be ofthe same standard size and shape. This greatly reduces manufacturing andinventory costs.

The cover sections can be made of any flexible material typically usedin cover systems such as canvas, nylon or plastic. It can also bewaterproof or porous, continuous or mesh, depending on the particularapplication for which it is used. Each supporting bow is comprised of acurved or straight bow center section and two mating bow end sections(bow ends). The cover sections are easily interchangeable since they aredetachably connected between each successive supporting bow centersection. The bow end sections keep the cover sections in place and alsoform a guidepath for the drive assembly. The bow ends can be made as asingle unit, in which case they are permanently attached to the driveassembly or, preferably, they can be made as two pieces which enablesthem to be easily connected to or disconnected from the drive assembly.

By the removal of a fastening means which fixedly connects the bow endto the bow center section, each bow end can be removed from matingengagement with its corresponding bow center section and also fromconnection with the cable of the drive assembly. When two successive bowends are removed, the cover section therebetween can easily be detachedfrom the adjacent bow center sections by sliding it out. Then, anothercover section can be installed. Once the cover section has beenreplaced, the bow ends can easily be reconnected to the drive assemblyand their corresponding bow center sections due to their matingconfigurations. Then, the fastening means can be reinstalled to firmlyconnect each bow end to the corresponding bow center section, therebyholding the replacement cover section in place. In a similar manner, adamaged bow can easily be replaced by removing both of its bow ends andsliding it out from between the adjacent cover sections.

A drive assembly can be used to extend and retract the segmented coverassembly consisting of the alternating cover sections and supportingbows. Any number of known mechanical or electrical drive systems can beused. Preferably, the drive assembly comprises an endless cable and twopulleys on each side of the cover assembly with a pulley on each sideconnected together by a rod. The last supporting bow (i.e. the oneclosest to the back of the frame or truck trailer) is fixedly attachedat each end thereof to the cable on each side of the cover assembly sothat as the cable moves it pulls the rest of the bows due to theinterconnection of the cover sections and the bows. Preferably, eachcable passes through a hole in each of the bow ends of the remainingbows on one side of the cover assembly. Due to the construction of thebow ends, it is very easy to attach or disconnect them from the cableand they do not require the cable to be threaded therethrough whichwould be impossible with an endless cable. The drive assembly can beeither manually operated or motor driven.

Other details, objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more readily apparent from the following description of thepresently preferred embodiment thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is illustrated, by way of example only wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a retractable segmented cover system andframe;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a retractable segmented cover systemplaced on a truck trailer;

FIG. 3 is a side view of one of the curved supporting bows used in asegmented cover system;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an end section of the supporting bow shownin FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an cross-sectional view of the center section of thesupporting bow shown in FIG. 3 taken along line A--A;

FIG. 6 is a an enlarged view of the bow end of the supporting bow shownin FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the bow end shown in FIG. 6 taken along lineB--B;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showing the interconnection of acover section, the neighboring supporting bows and the cable of thedrive assembly;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a cover section being removed fromthe adjacent bow center section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a retractable segmented cover system 10 of the presentinvention utilizing a plurality of cover sections 12 interspersedbetween supporting rods 14 and a drive assembly 16 connected to at leastone supporting rod 14 for extending and retracting the cover sections12. In this particular embodiment, a rectangular frame 18 is used tosupport the ends 20 of the supporting rods 14 and the drive assembly 16,although any size or shape of frame could be used depending upon thesize and shape of the area to be covered. The cover sections 12 extendat least as far as the frame 18 and preferably beyond. The supportingrods 14 are straight, although as shown in the other Figures, they maybe curved or formed in any other desired shape. The segmented coversystem 10 and frame 18 can be placed over any area where it is desiredto have a retractable cover system. For example, the frame 18 may beplaced over or be part of a porch or a swimming pool with theretractable segmented cover system 10 operating on the frame 18. Thedrive assembly 16 is fairly straight forward and is similar to thosedescribed in the patents mentioned above. In one embodiment, the driveassembly 16 consists of two pairs of pulleys 22,24 and 26,28 with anendless cable 30 and 32, respectively connected between each pair ofpulleys. Pulleys 22 and 26 are drivingly connected by a rod. One of thepulleys 22 has a handle 34 connected to it by means of which it can beturned to extend or retract the cover system 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the segmented cover system 10 of the presentinvention is particularly useful for the top of truck trailer bodies 35or even railroad cars. The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 utilizes a seriesof curved bows 36 to support and connect the series of tarp segments 38thereby preventing water from collecting on the cover assembly 40 andalso enabling the cover assembly 40 to clear heaped loads. Preferably,the cover system 10 is comprised of a series of tarp segments 38 of astandard, uniform size each connected to and placed between two curvedbows 36. The number of curved bows 36 and the number of tarp segments 38used in the cover system. 10 can easily be adjusted depending upon thelength of the truck trailer to be covered. If the length of the vehicledoes not correspond to a multiple of the standard size of the tarpsegments 38, an adjustment can easily be made at either end of the coverassembly 40 by taking up the slack in either the first 42 or last 44tarp segment.

The drive assembly shown in FIG. 2 comprises two pairs of pulleys 22,24and 26,28 on each side of the truck trailer body 35 at the top and athird pulley 46 near the base of the trailer body 35 so that thecranking handle 48 can be located in a convenient position for theoperator. Again, as in FIG. 1, each pair of pulleys one at the front endand one at the back end on a side of the truck are connected together byendless cables 30,32, respectively. The pulleys at the front end of thetruck trailer are connected together by a rod 50 which enables thepulleys at the front to rotate at the same speed and enables onecranking handle 48 to extend and retract the entire cover system 10. Afourth pulley 52 is mounted on pulley 22 of the first pair and isconnected by a third cable 54 to the third pulley 46 to which thecranking handle 48 is connected. By turning the cranking handle 48, thecable 54 connecting the third 46 and fourth 52 pulleys moves, causingthe fourth pulley 52 to rotate and since it is fixedly mounted to pulley22 of the first pair of pulleys, it causes pulley 22 to turn which inturn causes the cable 30 along the top side of the truck trailer body 35to move. Since the last bow 56 is fixedly connected at each end to eachcable 30 and 32, movement of the cables in one direction extends thecover assembly 40 and movement of the cables in the opposite directionretracts the cover assembly 40.

FIG. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of a curved supporting bow 36.Preferably, it is comprised of two bow ends 58 and a bow center section60. The bow center section 60 is preferably made from a piece ofextruded aluminum thereby forming a corrosion-proof foundation for thetarp segments 38 of the cover assembly 40. Various other materials canbe used to form the bow center section 60 including steel and plastic.The preferred cross-sectional configuration of the bow center section 60is shown in FIG. 5, where the round shape provides for increasedstrength. The generally circular cavities or grooves 62 in the bowcenter section 60 are parallel and extend along its length on oppositesides and receive and hold an edge of each tarp segment 38 whileallowing the cover segment 38 to extend out of the slit but notpermitting it to be detached from the bow center section 60. The bowcenter section 60 of the curved bow 36 can be formed into numerousdifferent shapes and configurations depending upon the particularapplication.

FIG. 4 shows a close-up of the mated connection between the bow end 58and the bow center section 60 of the curved bow 36 while FIG. 6 showsthe bow end 58 of FIG. 4 when removed from engagement with the bowcenter section 60. Preferably, the bow end 58 as shown in FIG. 6 iscomprised of a separate top part 64 and bottom part 66 although it maybe made as a single piece. Having the bow end 58 made from two separateparts is preferable since the top and bottom parts 64 and 66 areidentical to each other and can be made very economically using the samemold. The bow ends 58 are preferably made from a high strength durablematerial such as polyurethane, although plastics, elastomers or othersuitable materials can be used.

As shown in FIG. 6, both the top 64 part and the bottom part 66 of thebow end 58 have an extended first portion 68 which can slide into andmate with the end of the bow center section 60, and a semicircularsecond portion 70 which is adjacent to the end of the bow center section60 when the bow end 58 is inserted into the bow center section 60. Whenboth top and bottom parts 64 and 66 of the bow end 58 are inserted intothe end of the bow center section 60, a fastening means such as pin 72can be inserted through a hole 74 to thereby fixedly connect the bow and58 to the bow center section 60. A semicircular groove 76 can be cut inthe flat surface 78 of the second portion 70 of the top and bottom parts64 and 66 to form a generally circular opening 80 when the top andbottom parts 64 and 66 of the bow end 58 are inserted into the end ofbow center section 60. The grooves 76 are aligned to form an opening 80through which the cable 30 or 32 of the drive assembly 16 can passunobstructed. A channel 82 connects this circular opening 80 to anexterior surface of the bow end 58 to permit the removal of debris fromopening 80 which may become lodged therein due to the cable 30 or 32passing therethrough. Preferably, a durable cable guide 84 is mounted inthe groove 76 to prevent wear of the polyurethane material of the bowend 58. This cable guide 84 can be held in place by another screw or pin86 inserted in a hole 88. Alternatively, a pin could be inserted tangentto the groove 62 between the opening 80 and the end of the bow end 58 toprevent the cable 30 or 32 from wearing its way out of the opening 80.

The bow end 58 can be easily inserted into the bow center section 60, asshown in FIG. 4. The end of the bow center section 60 has a curved wearguard 90 attached to its underside and held in place by several screws92. This wear guard prevents destruction of the ends of the bow centersection 60 from the sliding friction with the frame as the end of thebow center section 60 slides along the frame when it is extended orretracted. Preferably, the wear guard 90 is made of a material such asnylon or teflon to reduce and minimize friction and forms an arc ofapproximately 120° to match the curve of the bow center section 90. Inone embodiment, the wear guard 90 can be formed integrally with bowbottom part 66 thereby forming a groove into which the end of bow centersection 60 is inserted. A wear guard 90 can also be used on the top ofthe end of bow center section 60, especially if the frame forms a topand bottom guide with the bow end 58 passing therebetween.

FIG. 8 shows a close-up of one cover section 12a between two adjacentcurved bows 36a and 36b. As can be seen in FIG. 9, the cover section 12preferably has two edges 94 along its sides which are 5 thicker than thecenter 96 of the cover section 12a in FIG. 8. This can be easilyachieved by folding a portion of the edge over a round flexible material98 and hemming it with the material 98 remaining inside. This preventsthe cover section 12a from pulling out of the groove 62 of the bowcenter section 60 once it has been inserted in the groove 62 shown inFIG. 9. The cable 30 is not fixed to the bow end 58 but slides freelythrough the opening 80 therein except for the last bow 56 which isfixedly attached to the cable 30. Alternatively, a flange 100 can beattached to the cable 30 on each side of the last bow 56 such that itimpacts the bow end of the last bow 56 and pushes it since it is toolarge to fit through the opening 80. The remaining bow ends 58 do notneed this flange 100 as the cover sections 12 will pull them along andeither extend or retract them depending on the direction of movement thecables 30 and 32.

If one or two sections of the cover system 10 are damaged, one onlyneeds to remove the fastening pin 72 in the bow ends 58 at one end ofthe curved bows 36a and 36b on either side of the damaged cover section12. These bow ends 58 are then removed from the center sections 60 ofthe bows 36a and 36b. The cover section 12a can then easily be slid outof the groove 62 in the aluminum extrusion which forms the bow centersection 60 and a replacement cover section 12 can be slid into place.The bow ends 58 are then reconnected to the corresponding bow centersections 60 and the fastening pins 72 are reinserted. With this simpleprocedure, the damaged cover section 12a can easily be removed and thecover assembly 40 has been repaired without its entire removal. Thissame procedure can be used if one desires to replace certain coversections of one type (i.e. waterproof) with cover sections of anothertype (i.e. mesh) to form a mixed cover assembly.

If instead, a bow 36 is damaged, the same procedure can be used toremove the damaged bow. In this case, however, both the bow ends 58 fromthe damaged bow 36 would be removed so that the damaged bow 36 could beslid out from between the adjacent cover sections 12. A new bow centersection 60 could then be slid into place and the undamaged bow ends 58can be connected to the new bow center section 60 to form the completebow 14.

While a presently preferred embodiment of practicing the invention hasbeen shown and described with particularity in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the invention may otherwise be embodied withinthe scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A retractable segmented cover system used with aframe comprising a plurality of flexible cover sections with a pluralityof substantially parallel supporting bows spaced therebetween and adrive assembly, wherein each cover section is detachably connectedbetween a pair of the substantially parallel supporting bows, the bowsbeing slideably supported on the frame and at least one bow beingfixedly connected to the drive assembly such that the cover system canbe extended or retracted by the drive assembly and wherein a coversection can be removed from the cover system independent of the othercover sections.
 2. The segmented cover system as described in claim 1wherein the supporting bows are curved.
 3. The segmented cover system asdescribed in claim 1 wherein the drive assembly comprises at least onendless cable and two pairs of pulleys, one pair located on each of twoopposite sides of the cover system such that one pulley is mountedadjacent each corner of the frame and the pulleys at a front end of theframe are connected together by a rod; each endless cable being fixedlyconnected to at least one supporting bow and slideably passing throughthe other supporting bows.
 4. The segmented cover system as described inclaim 1 wherein at least one of the supporting bows comprises a bowcenter section, having a groove along each side substantially parallelto one another, and two bow ends each being detachably connected to anend of the bow center section by a fastening means.
 5. The segmentedcover system as described in claim 4 wherein the bow ends are detachablefrom the corresponding bow center sections of the substantially parallelsupporting bows thereby enabling the cover section therebetween to bedetached from the bow center sections.
 6. The segmented cover system asdescribed in claim 5 wherein the bow ends are comprised of a top partand a bottom part which are matingly connected to the bow centersection.
 7. The segmented cover system as described in claim 6 whereinthe top and bottom parts have a groove therein, running perpendicular tothe grooves in the bow center section, such that when the top and bottomparts are connected to the bow center section the grooves therein arealigned and form an opening in the bow end through which a cable of thedrive assembly can pass.
 8. The segmented cover system as described inclaim 7 wherein at least two edges of the cover sections are thickerthan the center thereof.
 9. The segmented cover system as described inclaim 8 wherein the thicker edges can be inserted into the grooves ofthe supporting bows.
 10. The segmented cover system as described inclaim 4 wherein the grooves in the bow center section are generallycircular.
 11. The segmented cover system as described in claim 7 whereinan open channel connects the opening in the bow end with an exteriorsurface of the bow end.
 12. The segmented cover system as described inclaim 11 further comprising a cable guide fixedly set in the grooves ofthe bow end to prevent wear from the cable.
 13. The segmented coversystem as described in claim 1 further comprising a wear guard attachedto the bow near the bow end to reduce friction between the bow and theframe.
 14. A segmented cover system comprising a plurality of flexiblecover sections with a plurality of substantially parallel supportingbows spaced therebetween wherein each cover section is detachablyconnected between a pair of the substantially parallel supporting bowssuch that the cover section can be removed from the cover systemindependent of the other cover sections.